Your top decluttering tips please

[Deminism]

I am determined that by the time the kids go back to school on Jan 7th our very messy house will be thoroughly decluttered.

Tomorrow I am going to sort out the saucepans and crockery cupboard.

The kids have each been asked to find ten toys they do not play with any more to give to charity (we have so many toys that really is not a lot).

But... I am sentimental and a semi hoarder. Top tips please...

I’m a huge hoarder and so not a big help but I’ve found not thinking about the item really helps. Good luck. It’s also easier without the children!

Bump

Actually just do it. Just make a start.

Look through stuff and if you haven't used something in a year, bin/recycle/donate/sell as applicable. Unless special e.g. wedding dress, photos etc

I have actually moved house so that helped a lot but prior to that I worked on 'If I was to move tomorrow would I pay to move this item.'

If you are starting in the kitchen, be realistic, I got rid of quite a few items because whilst they were useful, I knew I rarely, if ever used them, so the wok and steamer went. I passed them on so hopefully they are getting used now.

Do you have a car? Put stuff in there as soon as you have it ready to donate

Do you have a friend who would like either toys or kids clothes. If so arrange to see them in 2 days time and hand stuff straight over

Set a timer for 15 minutes 3 times a day and spend that time decluttering. Amazing how much you can get done.

It’s really helped me to have a ‘vision’ of what my declutered home will look like. Part of my vision is to be able to get stuff stored nicely in cupboards and drawers so it’s easy to access so for pans/crockery I don’t try to con myself into thinking something I haven’t used in a decade might come in handy one day because being able to open my cupboard and lift out what I want without having to play crockery jenga is handy everyday. For toys I would get rid of everything that they don’t play with whether it’s one thing or 100. It’s impossible to feel the impact of only living with the stuff you like until you are only living with the stuff you like so don’t hold onto the eleventh item

I focus on one area at a time eg shelves, take everything off and then put it back how you’d like it to look. What is left either goes to charity or if you can’t part with it swap it for something on the shelf. I’ve found ordering books in size and colour order really makes a difference to how tidy a book shelf looks.

I tend to be sentimental about things but after reading what Marie kondo said, I now appreciate that the item had its time in my life and will hopefully be appreciated by someone else. Then I feel fine about giving it to charity.

Also spoke to someone the other day who said they found gift aid via oxfam fab as they get little updates about what their items have raised and have provided (eg books for school etc) and that spurs them on.

oh that is a good idea @princesspond - I am a sucker for that kind of thing...

When faced with for example, a drawer full of crap, instead of trying to decide what to throw out, start from the premise that EVERYTHING Is going in the bin, then pick out the few things that you want to keep.
It actually feels quite positive rather than daunting when you do it that way, and it's actually quicker.

Do it on a day when you feel motivated to do it. Otherwise if gets half done, stuff doesn't end up at the charity shop, and you end up with the same clutter but in black bags instead!

Don’t much about having different piles for bin, charity and sell. You’ll never sager round to selling and it adds to the decision burden.

For items that have sentimental memory "value" but you don't actually need the item, take a photo of it, then pass the item on (gift, donate or sell). I found it very helpful to think of the £ per sq ft value of space in my home and ask myself whether the stuff was worth the space it occupied! Mainly no, so lots went.

Start with the least emotional stuff, whatever that is for you. For me that was kitchen and bathroom items. Decide how much space you are happy to give to "memento" type things and stick to it (1 drawer under my bed and no more).

Indulge yourself by searching "declutter before and after" on Pinterest for inspiration - but do it in your breaks, not instead of starting work

I'd recommend the Kondo approach of decluttering by category, not by room. Pens is a good example of how this works. You get every pen from the house, put them together, work out which you want to keep and take those you don't want back to the stationary cupboard at work where they came from get rid of the rest. Otherwise if you do it by room, you keep 5 pens in each room, so you still have a fair bit of clutter.

If you saw it in the charity shop would you buy it?

You need to be working towards a system that is very easy to maintain. There is no point in sorting through everything if you are still left with piles of stuff that require a complex organisation system to keep in order. You will get busy and the chaos will return. You need to change the whole approach and probably get rid of at least half of your stuff.

Sounds drastic I know but I grew up in a house that forever needed ‘sorting’ or ‘decluttering’ and I was determined not to get into the same pattern with my own house. My DM and DF simply have way too much stuff and end up dedicating several days each year to doing major sort outs but it never improves long term.

Minimise everything. Ensure you don’t keep anything that you haven’t used for over a year. Also look at what you can borrow - you don’t need one of everything if it’s an item you use very rarely. Tidy and clear regularly eg. If you buy magazines and papers then recycle old ones every week. Use up stuff in your cupboards and don’t buy more tins/toiletries etc until they’ve gone. Figure out what areas are most problematic for you and tackle those first. For some families it’s toys, and lots of women have waaaaay too many clothes. No one needs more than 10 jumpers. Often also stuff like towels, Tupperware, shoes, all proliferate and get in the way. Keep the best and get rid of the others. You should be able to empty out and refill any cupboard in the same way in under 15 mins. If you can’t there’s too much stuff in it and it’s too complicated/full to keep in order.

You get my gist. Good luck!

Ps. I suspect that ten toys per DC will make almost no dent in the mess. I understand you may want to ease them in gently but if you start with this approach then it’s going to take a looooong time. Depending on their ages you might want to rethink how you go about it if you want to no longer live in a perpetually messy house... could you have it as a family challenge? Car boot sale and see who can raise the most cash? (Within limits, I guess you don’t want them flogging family heirlooms!).